Hello and welcome to my blog. My name is Svenni Herz and I regularly write here on my food-, family- and lifestyle-blog DONOSTIANA about healthy, most of the time vegetarian and or even sugarfree recipes plus fitness, wellbeing and health as a Mama and woman.

My mother always cooked for us, as a nutritionist she was aware of how important it is to prepare divers and nutritive meals for hungry birds. A warm meal always waited for us after school and I wish and hope to do so as well for my kids. They are still little ones and one day I will need to go back to work but until then (and hopefully afterwards as well) I try to throw together delicious and at the same time healthy meals for the whole family. I try new things, vegan, vegetarian, sweet or savory, sometimes it does not work but when it works you will find it here on my blog.

So, why vegetarian or even vegan? To be honest, I don’t say no to a good bolognese, a tasty sausage or a good steak. But when I decide to eat meat it should be from happy animals who lived a beautiful life. My body does not ask for meat, I love animals and from my opinion nowadays it is difficult to eat them without having a guilty conscience. And why vegan sometimes? For me virgin soil because cheese, milk and yoghurts are my favourite dishes. But I am fascinated by the option of working with alternatives and to prepare them that good that even non-vegans get convinced. And the more I think and read about it, surely I have to say, as an animal lover, the more I realize that a reduction of beastly food does not only help our body but also mother nature and the earth.

During my years of study I started to be more and more interested into real sports. As a child and young girl I tried different sports like horseriding, playing hockey and tennis and kickboxing – always in search for movement and exploiting but growing older I wanted something for mind, health and body. Therefore I started running (marathon and half marathons) until my knee made me a monkey wrench in the works. I got to know my husband and with him I fell as well in love with his sport: cycling with racing and cross bikes. I love to explore with him and my family surroundings at home and on vacations by bike. But back and knee again started to hurt and I discovered additionally Yoga and Pilates for me. On this blog I will take you with me on the way of staying fit with healthy body and healthy mind.

My family has first priority but as you all know – you have to be healthy, fit and happy in order to be there for your family. Stay with me and try to make your life and the life of your family every day a little bit more beautiful.